Commerce Building in downtown Portland sold, to change name

The Commerce Building, pictured at left in its current state, has been sold and will be remodeled to become the Broadway Commons, depicted in the rendering at right.

A group of local investors plans to breathe new life into the Commerce Building, a 1906-built office building located in downtown Portland.

A team including Steve Rosenbaum, CEO of the ad agency Pop Art, as well as brothers and property managers Brian and Brandon Anderson, purchased the building from the Chiu 1981 Revocable Trust for $4 million. Both Rosenbaum’s firm, and the company that the Andersons work for, Pivot Property Management, will both occupy spaces in the building

The group plans on putting the building through an extensive renovation that includes a full façade modernization, as well as new elevator cabs, new restrooms with showers, a new gym, a new common conference room and a 75-stall secured bike parking facility. The project is also pursuing a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating for existing buildings.

In addition to a renovation, the six-story, 48,159-square-foot building will also undergo a name change. The building will now be referred to as Broadway Commons in reference to its location at 225 S.W. Broadway.

With Pop Art and Pivot moving in, the building will go from 25 percent leased to 60 percent leased. But the two top floors are still available for lease at about $22 per square foot.

David Hill, Eric Haskins and Jake Lancaster, all of the Portland offices of Grubb & Ellis, represented the buyers. Joe Beehler and Ryan Pennington of the Portland offices of Colliers International represented the seller.